Flight to Tatooine
by Dae1
Summary: A young princess named Mimi is forced to go to Tatooine and enters the dangerous world of podracing, where she meets Pandora, a girl who's never known her real parents. Meanwhile a group of Jedi Knights get to the bottom of death threats aimed at a podrac
1. Default Chapter

This is the first Star Wars fanfic I've written. I've finished it, and I'll post it here bit by bit. I'm also working on sequels to this story. This story takes place around 15 years after Return of the Jedi.  
  
DISCLAIMER: Most of the characters are mine, the Messinian system is mine, but Star Wars isn't mine. I'm a crazy fan who has way too much time on my hands, who uses that time to write about Star Wars, nothing more.  
  
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Flight to Tatooine  
  
Chapter One  
  
As the morning sun shone on the royal gardens, Princess Mimi Rafaa was contentedly lounging on one of the many stone benches that lay throughout the gardens. One of Mimi's favorite pastimes was exploring the seemingly endless gardens that surrounded the palace. Mimi sat there, twirling a bright orange long stemmed flower in her right hand. Mimi saw something in the corner of her eye, and she looked up to see a sleek starship zooming higher and higher. She recognized the ship as the Grand Parade, belonging to King Ronan of Gessitonia. Though Mimi had only briefly met the king, she knew he often paid visits to her planet, Messinia, to visit and gamble with her father, King Jon of Messinia. All of last nigh King Ronan had been in the palace, involved in a high-stakes sabacc game with Mimi's father. Mimi stood up, and began the walk back to the palace. The royal gardens were vast and dense, and dusk would come soon, so it took her good time to make the trek back to the palace.  
  
Mimi walked down the long corridor that held the main bedrooms. The guest bedrooms were in adjacent corridors. As Mimi neared her father's bedchamber, she stopped in front of the door, considering for a moment to knock on the door. She was curious about the game of sabacc he played with King Ronan, and concerned too. Just a few months before, it became known her father had gambled with the citizen's tax money, and the action had lost him much respect among the people. She had always been concerned about her father's gambling, as her mother had been. She knew that had ultimately ended her parent's marriage. Mimi put her ear up against the door. She could hear her father muttering to himself. She thought she could also here him pacing back and forth. She now feared the worst. He acted this way whenever there was a problem. She only hoped he had lost his own money this time. Mimi sighed and walked further down the hall to her own room. No need to bother him now.  
  
Mimi had only been in her room a few minutes before there was a knock on the door. Mimi was expecting her music instructor, who was from her mother's home planet of Faahrin. He came daily to teach Mimi how to play the Sirl, an instrument popular on Faahrin. Instead, when she opened the door, she saw Keith Sim, One of her father's advisers. Keith Sim was an ambassador from Faahrin, and was a good friend of Mimi's mother. Mimi's face immediately brightened at the sight of the ambassador. "Why Ambassador Sim!" she cried with delight, she hadn't seen him in two weeks, since he left on a diplomatic trip to Faahrin. "We didn't expect you back for two more standard days!" The Faahrinian beamed at her and replied, "Yes, I know. But I decided to come back just a bit early. Your mother, she does well." "Oh!" said Mimi, "I'm so glad." After Mimi's mother, Queen Lena of Faahrin, divorced Mimi's father when she was eight, she moved back to her home planet, so Mimi didn't see her mother as much as she would have liked. So it was always nice when she heard from her, even if through the words of Keith Sim. "Oh, by the way," Mimi said, suddenly remembering something, "How is your daughter?" "Oh," Keith Sim said, "yes, Kira is doing well. In fact, well, of course, you know the death of my wife upset both Kira and me quite a bit, and I know the girl has been lonely living with her aunt. I would so prefer to be nearer to her, though for the longest time that has been impossible due to my position as Royal Advisor. "Though now, she is almost fourteen, and that is the age schooling ends on Faahrin, and I have decided that she should no longer be so far away from me, and with the permission of your father, hope to bring her to live here soon." Mimi was excited about this news. She had always heard Keith talk about his daughter Kira, and longed to meet her. She knew how hard it had been for Keith to leave his daughter behind on Faahrin while he was so far away on Messinia. But she also knew how important the position of Royal Advisor meant to Keith Sim. Faahrin was uninhabited for many years until six refugees from an unknown planet discovered it. They started the whole population of Faahrinians, a population that grew, and eventually split up into six different tribes. Unfortunately, many civil wars broke out among the tribes, wars that had been going on for years, and continued to that day. Fortunately, there was a peace between the tribes now, though it was an uneasy one. Sadly, due to their different, sometimes strange customs, the fact they withdraw from the rest of the galaxy, and sometime exotic looks due to genes belonging to a long-lost species of humanoid aliens that had become mixed in with their own, The Faahrinians were often not treated like humans, despite the fact they were genetically human. Mimi stood there silently thinking of all this, when Keith Sim broke the silence. "Now I shall go talk to your father." He said, "I must inform him I am back, and ask his permission for Kira to move here." He started walking down the hall when Mimi stopped him. "Wait!" she said, "I must warn you; my father and King Ronan of Gessitonia were at a game of sabacc all of last night. And now I fear my father lost the game, and whatever he had bet in it." Keith Sim stood there silently for a moment, and then said, "Yes, my dear princess, I fear you may be right." He sighed. "Yes your father takes great risks. Perhaps sometimes too great. Try not to worry about it, my dear. Everything shall work out in the end." And with that, Keith Sim disappeared down the hall. Seeing her dear old friend made Mimi feel better. Yes, she thought, everything would work out in the end. 


	2. Chapter Two

Hey everyone, here's chapter two!  
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Chapter 2  
Mimi spent a good part of the day practicing the Sirl. The string instrument was difficult to play. The triangle shaped instrument consisted of four strings, which each could create many different sounds and musical affects if one knew how to properly play it.  
  
Very good musicians could play the exciting melodious Faahrinian dance music, which was danced to by the skilled dancers many tribes were known for. But only truly skilled musicians could play the haunting, hypnotic music most famous and popular among the Faahrinians. Not to mention many other cultures. Mimi had become quite good at playing the instrument, though she found the daily practice sessions quite tiring. Finally, when she was done practicing, Mimi sat on the edge of her bed and tried to decide what she wanted to do for the rest of the day.  
  
Evening would come soon, she realized, so another walk in her beloved garden was out of the question. Once she had gotten lost in those massive gardens in broad daylight. She hated to imagine what it would be like to be lost in the dark.  
  
Mimi's mother had always those gardens. She had even planted much of it. The gardens were in sections. One area was made up of high walls covered with moss and vines, another with large trellises with more vines with beautiful flowers. Then there were flowerbeds. There were also many statues. The gardens closest to the palace had been there since the palace was built, many of the ones further out had been added at Queen Lena's request.  
  
Mimi thought of her mother. She knew her mother had always tried to be the best mother she could be. Unfortunately, Mimi knew it was hard for her mother. Queen Lena became queen of Messinia when she was just barely an adult, right after she married King Jon. Lena was born into the Yelinn tribe of Faahrin. The same tribe Keith Sim and his daughter Kira belonged to.  
  
Sadly, soon after she became queen of Messinia, she also was forced to become queen of her tribe. The Yelinn and the Waeenta tribes had been in the middle of a long civil war for years, and one day, in the midst of an invasion on the Yelinn tribe, Waeenta warriors killed everyone in Lena's family except herself and one of her sister-in-laws. After the murder of her family, Lena was very bitter, and tried never to let herself become attached to one person too much, for fear she may lose them as well. That, combined with her growing uneasiness with her husbands gambling and the rough friends he kept, eventually led to the couple's divorce when Mimi was only eight. Since that time, Lena spent most of her time in her now peaceful tribe, attempting to keep contact with Mimi the best she could.  
  
Mimi had never felt particularly close to either of her parents. Her father never seemed to pay much attention to her, accept for every now and then when the two would play sabacc together. Mimi loved her father dearly, but in recent years, he had become distant and removed from her life, which upset her.  
  
And Mimi never felt she could live up to her mother's expectations of what she should be. Lena liked to be in a routine, to be able to know what to expect in life. Perhaps due to the years she had spent wondering daily what would happen to herself and her family. Mimi, on the other hand, craved adventure and excitement, always wanting to try something new. The last thing she wanted was to know exactly what to expect in life. Mimi knew her mother had never particularly wanted a child, and Lena had never spent much time around Mimi as she was growing up. Mimi had never known her mother very well, and had few memories of her.  
  
Someone knocking on her door suddenly disrupted Mimi's thoughts. She stood up and walked over to the door, straightened her dress out a bit, then opened it. Keith Sim stood before her, his shoulder-length black hair encircling his tall face.  
  
"Ambassador Sim. I didn't expect to see you again until dinner." Mimi said, a bit surprised to see the kindly man's face at her door for the second time that day.  
  
Keith Sim sighed; as if he wasn't sure how to go about what he was about to say. Finally, he said, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid there's a bit of trouble. Your father, he wishes to speak to you."  
  
Mimi frowned, but followed the ambassador, not knowing what to think. Mimi and Keith Sim walked down the corridor in complete silence save the muffled clumping that came from Mimi's wooden soled shoes against the scarlet carpet that lined the hall. When they reached the grand double doors of her father's throne room, Keith Sim soundlessly opened one side and motioned for Mimi to enter. He then closed the door behind her and hurried away.  
  
Mimi looked around the room, and spotted her father, who ran towards the doors and poked his head out, looking for Keith Sim. Not seeing the ambassador anywhere, he said, "What a coward! He has advice for any situation, and can win any debate, but one little crisis arrives and he bails out on me!"  
  
Mimi walked over to her father. "What crisis?" she said in alarm.  
  
Her father looked at her as if he hadn't noticed her until now. He then turned and walked away, running his hand through his blond hair. Finally, he said, "Mimi, my daughter, I must talk to you about something. I fear it is rather urgent, though nothing too awful."  
  
Mimi bit her lower lip. This didn't sound too good so far.  
  
Her father continued. "Yes, well," he said, "You see Ronan and I are good friends, and we so enjoy spending time together, and well, we ended up playing sabacc for a while. And we made a few harmless bets. Nothing too big. However, I lost a bet, so now I have to give you to Ronan."  
  
"What?!" Mimi cried, "You mean you bet me in a stupid sabacc game?! Isn't that illegal?"  
  
"No!" her father cried, jumping to his defense, "I didn't bet you, I was just um, playing an innocent game of Sabacc."  
  
"Well how did I get in all this?!" Mimi exclaimed.  
  
"Ronan wants you to live with him on Gessitonia for five years. The agreement was if he won the game he'd take you, and he won the game."  
  
"So you just decided to give me to him?!"  
  
"No! Of course not. I refused to, but Ronan insisted. Blame him, not me! It was all his idea."  
  
Mimi was so aghast; she didn't know what to say. So she turned around and walked quickly towards the door.  
  
Her father ran up to her and grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Please, Mimi." He said, "You mustn't get all upset over this, there's really no reason."  
  
"No reason?!" she exclaimed, "Of course I'm going to be upset! And I don't care what you say; I'm not going to go to Gessitonia! Now leave me alone!" Mimi stormed out of the room and ran down the hall. She ran into her bedroom and slammed the door. She felt like crying, but she was too angry to cry.  
  
There was a knock at her door, and expecting it was her father, she yelled, "Just leave me alone, will you!" But it was Keith Sim's voice she heard on the other side of the door, saying, "Mimi, my love, do let me in. It's most important that I talk to you."  
  
Mimi went over and opened the door, allowing the ambassador to enter.  
  
"I know that you are upset right now, but this is really one of the best things that could've happened." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder.  
  
Mimi looked at him in disbelief. "How can possibly say that?"  
  
"You see, my dear," he said, "For a long time now, I've been in command of the anti-slavery movement on Faahrin. There are these two men, Willis and Philian Wiitus. They're twin brothers who are suspected in being involved in just about everything illegal going on in this region of the galaxy. They're suspected of being slave traders working illegally, though there's no proof. Though I have a lot of evidence that they've been working for King Ronan."  
  
"If you could go to Gessitonia, and get to know the servants and Ronan," He continued, "There's a good chance you could find proof of this illegal activity."  
  
Mimi stared at him. "Do you mean to say you want me to be a spy for you?"  
  
"Yes, I suppose so. I assure you, it's most important to the goodwill of Faahrin."  
  
Mimi thought about this. It sounded terribly risky, though it also sounded exciting. As much as she loved life at the palace on Messinia, it could be so boring. And she had never seen Gessitonia.  
  
Finally, she smiled and said. "Very well Ambassador Sim, I shall do it." 


End file.
